Funding for mental health social worker fast-track scheme

Sarah Carr, who chairs the National Service User Network, [NSUN] said: "Support from a social worker with the right skills and expertise can be transformational for people living with mental health problems.

Social workers are specially trained to support people and families dealing with mental health problems

The Department of Health is giving £10m to a fast-track scheme training graduates to become social workers in community mental health teams.

The scheme run by charity Think Ahead aims to recruit 300 graduates by 2018 to work with nurses and psychiatrists.

They will receive specialist training on supporting individuals and families with mental health problems.

Graduates are paid while training on the job and qualify as social workers a year earlier than normal.

Those who secure a place on the scheme become mental health social workers, working with psychologists, nurses and doctors to support the everyday needs of those with mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, depression and schizophrenia.

The scheme, which opened last year, attracted more than 2,300 applicants for 100 places that start in July.

The government funding will provide money for 200 more places by 2018.

‘Heavy workloads’

Sarah Carr, who chairs the National Service User Network, [NSUN] said: “Support from a social worker with the right skills and expertise can be transformational for people living with mental health problems.

“The programme gives graduates the skills to empower the individuals they work with – so that they can manage their mental health, stand up for their rights, and find their own paths towards personal recovery.”

David Niven, a former chairman of the British Association of Social Workers, said the profession had struggled with too many vacancies and caps to local government funding in recent years, while social workers themselves had faced heavy workloads.

He told BBC Radio 5 live he hoped this scheme would strengthen the profession and that it showed recognition from the government of the value of social work.

Mental health minister Alistair Burt said mental health social work was highly skilled, complex work and the funding would mean thousands of people would be helped to lead more independent and fulfilling lives.

“This is a great initiative to attract the brightest and best into the profession,” he said.

Think Ahead says one in three families include someone with mental health problems, deeply affecting their lives and their communities.

‘She can read my tone of voice’

Lee Brookes, 39, is a business adviser who has had mental health problems for 10 years, including bipolar disorder and an eating disorder.

He says a good, understanding social worker who listens well is invaluable in coping with his illness.

“My current social worker has been fantastic,” he says.

“She can tell from my tone of voice whether the conversation needs to carry on or whether she needs to call back later.

“That works so well for me.”

Mr Brookes believes developing mental health social workers will help lots of people in the long run because of the support they provide.

“Social workers have been the most important point of contact during my illness,” he says.

Our Aims: About Us

To support users and ex-users of psychiatric services in the Manchester area. The organisation provides a forum for services users to have a bona fide say in planning and provision of mental health services.

Protesters in King’s Lynn fight against mental health service cuts

Protesters took to the streets of King’s Lynn to voice their anger at what they described as “continuous” cutbacks to mental health services in west Norfolk.

Mental health cuts protest

A protest march against cuts to mental health services and the Fermoy Unit at the QEH took place in King's Lynn town centre. Picture: Matthew Usher.

More than 100 campaigners marched from The Walks through the town centre before finishing outside the Majestic Cinema.

Peter Smith, former parliamentary candidate for south-west Norfolk said: “We are in the fight of our lives here.”

The protest was triggered by the Fermoy Unit, an in-patient NHS facility in Lynn for mental health, which campaigners say faces an uncertain future. The unit was briefly closed to new admissions earlier this month, but reopened last week, albeit with fewer beds.

Mr Smith said: “In my lifetime we have never had to fight like this, but what is the alternative?”

But Debbie White, director of operations for Norfolk at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said there were now no plans to axe the Fermoy Unit.

She added: “It is right that mental health services should be valued and funded on the same level as acute health services, and it is understandable people feel passionate about the Fermoy Unit remaining open.”

Labour party activist Jo Rust insisted the issue would not disappear. She said: “They have been talking about closing it for a long time. We will fight and we will not let them do that.”

Beth Anthony, 18 of Dersingham, said: “We are here to protest against the continuous cuts to the mental health service, we think it’s unacceptable. My younger brother suffers from poor mental health and has to travel to London... That is to the detriment of my family because we have to pay for him to go down by train every single month.”